The Other Women

After earlier posting on his website that he regretted his “transgressions,” on 12/11/09, Tiger directly confronted the speculation concerning his affairs: “I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children.” While he would answer no questions at the time, he was hopeful that the public’s sense of decency would facilitate an end to the media circus swirling around his private life. Perhaps a convergence of factors — Tiger’s level of celebrity, his initial refusal to directly “confront” the press, and the sheer number of reported “other women” — conspired to destroy virtually overnight a carefully chiseled image, painstakingly created over the prior fifteen years. As chronicled below, within ten days following the accident, seven different women had been romantically connected to the world’s greatest golfer. Included are stories of the alleged mistresses, an unusual beauty pageant, and an expose that details the great lengths taken as early as 2007 to protect Tiger’s image.

The media coverage presented many of Tiger’s alleged mistresses with a unique stage to promote their fledging careers. For some of these business opportunities, click here.

A difficult two weeks

11/25/09: A still unpublished (at the time) National Enquirer story that Tiger is having an affair with a 34-year-old New York City party planner Rachel Uchitel leaks and is circulated on the internet. The ‘news’ does not fully resonate in the mainstream media.

11/27/09: In the early hours,Tiger drives his Escalade into a fire hydrant sending him to a local hospital in reportedly “serious condition.” He is cleared to leave the hospital later that day.

11/29/09: Tiger takes full responsibility on his website and posts that the accident was “embarrassing to my family and me” and calls it a “private matter and I want to keep it that way.” He also volunteers: “Although there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible.” (TigerWoods.com)

12/2/09: Tiger issues a statement on his website that he let people down with his “transgressions” that he regrets “with all my heart.” He undoubtedly wants to avoid any further media commentary and to deal with his personal issues in private. Yet, he prods the media beast by criticizing: “Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.” (TigerWoods.com)

12/3/09: After Rachel Uchitel meets with prominent attorney Gloria Allred (for more on Attorneys, click here) in Los Angeles, speculation goes into viral overdrive. An anticipated ‘tell-all’ press conference by Ms. Uchitel is announced only to be abruptly cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances.” (USMagazine.com)

12/4/09: Gloria Allred’s daughter and CBS legal analyst, Lisa Bloom says that cancelling the press conference signals a settlement was struck, which Bloom estimates at “at least $1 million. (HuffingtonPost.com) In the meantime, TMZ reports about prior email correspondence between one of Tiger’s employees and Uchitel confirming her travel to Australia the prior November 10th from New York’s JFK airport to where Tiger was playing at the Australian Masters Tournament at Kingston Health, Melbourne. (TMZ.com)

12/5/09: Model Jamie Jungers (# 4) recounts to UK’s Sunday Mirror details about her two-year affair with Tiger, which started in Las Vegas when she was engaged to one of Tiger’s fans. The story refers to Woods as the “sex addict golfer.” (mirror.co.uk)